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The stairs in your home — the ones you climb up and down every day — can be dangerous. According to the Canadian Institute for Health Information, between April 1, 2001 and March 31, 2002, a total of 6,224 Canadians fell on or from stairs or steps in their homes and were injured seriously enough to require a hospital visit. More than half of the 6,224 people hospitalized — 3,426 — were seniors (men and women 65 years or older). (National Trauma Registry, managed by the Canadian Institute for Health Information, April 2004.) When seniors fall, the consequences can be severe and long-lasting.
Most of the falls on or from stairs can be prevented. Prevention starts by keeping in mind that there are risks when people use stairs. Good planning and simple strategies can help everyone — older people, children, young adults and middle-aged men and women — prevent falls and injuries. I can echo this, having badly sprained an ankle and spending over two months hobbling around after falling on our poorly lit stairs at night!
The Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) web site is a fantastic resource for information about adapting homes for seniors, finanacial support, and, falls prevention. This CMHC About Your House: Preventing Falls on Stairs guide provides clear, important information about some of the ways you can reduce the risk of falling on or from stairs.
Topics include:
- Why do people fall
- Consequences of falling
- Modifications that you can make to existing stairways (including diagrams)
- How to prevent falls by changing behaviour
